Job 39:11

Job 39:11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength [is] great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

Ver. 11. Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?] Of the unicorn’s strength Balaam speaketh, Num 23:22. The Hebrew word signifieth such lustiness, courage, and prowess, as whereby one endureth labour without weariness or fainting. Such strength is required in ploughmen, whose work is never at an end; and hard fallow must have a strong team. But the unicorn will never fadge nor frame to such an employment. Free God hath made him; and rather than part with his freedom he will part with his life. Let men learn to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, Gal 5:1, and not be again entangled (as oxen tied to the yoke) with the yoke of spiritual bondage, worse than the Egyptian servitude.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

thy labour--rustic work.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?.... No; tame oxen are employed because they are strong to labour, Psa 144:14; and they are to be trusted, in ploughing or treading out the corn, under direction, because they are manageable, and will attend to business with constancy; but the wild ox, though stronger, and so fitter for labour, is yet not to be trusted, because unruly and unmanageable: if that sort of wild oxen called "uri" could be thought to be meant, for which Bootius (h) contends, Caesar's account of them would agree with this character of the "reem", as to his great strength: he says of them (i), they are in size a little smaller than elephants, of the kind, colour, and shape of a bull; they are of great strength and of great swiftness, and not to be tamed;

or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? to plough thy fields, to harrow thy lands, and to bring home the ripe corn? as in Job 39:12; thou wilt not.

(h) Animadvers. Sacr. l. 3. c. 1. s. 14. (i) Comment. de Bello Gall. l. 6. c. 27.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Wilt thou trust him? - As thou dost the ox. In the domestic animals great confidence is of necessity placed, and the reliance on the fidelity of the ox and the horse is not usually misplaced. The idea here is, that the unicorn could not be so tamed that important interests could be safely entrusted to him.

Because his strength is great? - Wilt thou consider his strength as a reason why important interests might be entrusted to him? The strength of the ox, the camel, the horse, and the elephant was a reason why their aid was sought by man to do what he could not himself do. The idea is, that man could not make use of the same reason for employing the rhinoceros.

Wilt thou leave thy labour to him? - Or, rather, the avails of thy labor - the harvest.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wilt thou trust him, to wit, for the doing of these works, because he is very able for thy work? And wilt thou by thy power make him willing, or force him, to put forth and spend his strength in thy service?

Thy labour; either,

1. Thy work of ploughing and harrowing. Or rather,

2. The fruit of thy labour, or the goods gotten by thy labour, as this word is oft used, as Deu 28:33; Job 20:18; Psa 78:46; 128:2; Joh 4:38, to wit, the fruits of the earth procured by God’s blessing upon thy industry.

To him; to be brought home by him into thy barns, as the next verse explains it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Because his strength is great — The greater wonder, then, that man cannot avail himself of this strength to do his work. Labour — Rather, in the sense of the fruit of one’s labour.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? If a man could bind the urns to his plough or to his harrow, still he could not "trust" him. The huge brute would be sure to prove unmanageable, and would only cause damage to his owner. Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? As thou leavest many labours to thy oxen, confiding in their docility.

Trusting in mere strength.

This chapter of natural history carries us on from one graphic picture to another, in which we see the glorious strength and freedom of God"s creatures, altogether outside the domain of man"s rule. Now we are to look at the urus. In bodily form he is very like the docile ox; yet how different in habit and temper! Will he serve us, lodge in our stall, plough our field and drag our harrow like his homely cousin, the drudge of the farm? Yet he is immensely strong. We cannot trust mere strength.

I PHYSICAL STRENGTH IS NOT THE GREATEST GIFT OF NATURE. There is energy in nature. But before we can use it we must apply mind to nature. A Samson may do good work in hard, rough times, but he cannot be the Redeemer of man. The worship of muscle has grown to enormous proportions in this age of athletics. Good as it is to be in health and to be strong, and natural as the reaction is from extreme. ascetic views, our modern glorying in health and strength does not touch what is highest in man, and it may lead to a neglect of this. It may humble the idolizer of strength for him to consider how enormously his greatest power is outdone by that of the urus. At best he is creeping up far behind one of the most senseless of animals.

II STRENGTH IS FRUITLESS UNLESS IT IS TURNED TO USEFUL SERVICE. The urus may be stronger than the domestic ox, yet he wastes his powers in blundering about in the wilderness. He cannot be put to any good service, because he will not be controlled. There are men of great power who flitter away their energies aimlessly and fruitlessly, because their minds and wills have never been subdued and bent into some worthy service. They have ability, but they do nothing effectively. It is as important to train the will as it is to cultivate the faculties. The most useful service of God and man is not always performed by those who have the greatest gifts. The disposition to serve will enable the less gifted to do more in life than their brilliant companions who will not stoop to wear the yoke.

III STRENGTH CAN ONLY BE OF SERVICE WHEN IT IS WISELY DIRECTED. The urus is wild, senseless, untamable, and not susceptible to educative influences; therefore he cannot use his strength for profitable work. Human strength needs Divine guidance. So long as the soul is wild and self-willed, the powers of mind and body cannot be spent fruitfully. The humble ox looks a less noble beast than the wild and daring bison, with his shaggy mane, his flashing eye, his powerful neck, his thunderous charge; yet the former is useful because it is obedient. The first lesson we have to learn in life is to obey; this, too, is the last lesson. As the ox looks to its master, we have to look to our Master; and when we follow his guidance, whether our strength be great or small, it will not be fruitless. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to challenge Job.

General Information:

Here Yahweh uses three questions to continue his argument that Job is not like Yahweh because Job cannot control the wild ox. (See: Rhetorical Question)

Will you trust him because his strength is great?

This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You cannot trust him because his strength is great." (See: Rhetorical Question)

trust him

The word "him" refers to the "wild ox."

Will you leave your work to him to do?

This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You will not be able to make him do your work for you." (See: Rhetorical Question)

leave your work to him to do

"have him do your hard work for you"

Will you depend on him ... grain for your threshing floor?

These two clauses basically mean the same thing. This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You will not be able to depend on him ... grain for your threshing floor." (See: Rhetorical Question and Parallelism)

translationWords

trust

grain

thresh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Will you rely on him to gather your grain because his strength is great and he can bear great burdens?

or will you leave your toil for him to gather into the house?

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.